It was bad enough that ONLY was in the hospital, but I also had to deal with the clowns at Dell Children's Hospital. I don't mean the staff and doctors. I mean real face-painted, squeaky-voiced, red-nose clowns.
As a person who suffers from Coulrophobia (a dislike or fear of mimes and clowns) I was not happy to see four clowns approaching me. ONLY was not too enchanted, either. According to a study down in England, all of the hospital's pediatric patients stated they disliked clowns.
ONLY grudgingly took a sticker and plastic necklace (or in her lingo, neck-a-lace)but was more than happy to move on. That day, it seemed no matter where we roamed in the hospital we could not escape the CLOWNS. They even had portraits of them on one of the walls. I just kept thinking it would be worse if they were mimes.
By the end of the day, ONLY's sticker was in two pieces. She said,"Let's go find those clowns." I told her I was sure they had left the building, but she was determined. Off we went. I was pulling her in a wagon and she would comment on everyone who passed by..."He's not a clown." "She's not a clown." I could hardly keep from laughing. I guess in some small way, the clowns did provide some amusement for me.
(In case you plan to visit a psychotherapist, don't expect her to give you any credit for having Coulrophobia. It is not a recognized psychiatric condition, just a term used by laymen to describe one's distaste for clowns.)
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